Lewis Hamilton has been bumped up the starting order for the Spanish Grand Prix thanks to a penalty handed down to Pierre Gasly.
The seven-time world champion qualified fifth on the track on Saturday, one place behind the Frenchman. But Gasly was already being investigated for two separate incidents from earlier in the session and so his place on the second row of the grid was always under question.
The Alpine racer had got in the way of Carlos Sainz during Q1, to which the Spaniard responded by declaring: "He should get a penalty." And Gasly was also investigated for impeding Max Verstappen during the session.
He was called to the stewards' office to explain himself over both decisions. After deliberations, he was slapped with a six-place grid drop in total, meaning Hamilton rises to fourth on the grid, sharing the second row with fellow Brit Lando Norris.
Regarding the incident in which Gasly was adjudged to have impeded Sainz, the stewards said: "The driver of Car 10 [Gasly] stated he was aware that the second Ferrari was behind but felt he could do nothing to avoid impeding because of the high speed delta and closeness of Car 55 [Sainz] to Car 16 [Charles Leclerc].
"However it is the view of the Stewards that he could have moved further to the right at the exit of turn 13." And they also did not buy the Frenchman's explanations about his actions in the other incident that was investigated, this time involving pole-sitter Verstappen.
The stewards explained: "[Alpine] failed to give appropriate warning to the driver of Car 10, of the approach of Car 1, having told him that cars behind were on a slow lap."
Meanwhile, George Russell was also investigated over his collision with team-mate Hamilton during Q2 which saw the seven-time world champion pick up damage. But the Brit escaped any tangible penalty and was simply given a "formal warning" for his actions.
Gasly's grid drop means Hamilton is now fourth on the grid with Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon sharing the third row. Fernando Alonso is now one place closer to the front but still in the eighth grid box behind Nico Hulkenberg, while Oscar Piastri also rises by a place before Gasly slots in at 10th place.
